History of the development of domestic hydrogenation reactors

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I. The emergence of domestically produced cold-wall hydrogenation reactors: China’s efforts in the design and manufacture of hydrogenation reactors began in the 1960s. Through research on the equipment left by the Japanese at Fushun Oil Plant No. 3’s hydrogenation unit, and through joint efforts by organizations such as the Fushun Oil Design Institute (the predecessor of Luoyang Institute), Beijing Oil Design Institute (the predecessor of SEI), Fushun Oil Plant No. 3, and Lanzhou Petrochemical Machinery Factory (the predecessor of Lanzhou Lanshi), China’s first hydrogenation complex was built, with a processing capacity of around 650,000 tons per year. The reactor in this hydrogenation unit features a single-layer rolled-welded cold wall lining structure. The main steel structure was developed by Anshan Iron and Steel Plant, while the forgings used for the end caps and covers were smelted and forged by Ural Heavy Machinery Plant (the predecessor of \"Yizhong\"). Welding and manufacturing were carried out jointly by the Institute of Mechanical Science and Lanzhou Petrochemical Machinery Factory; and due to concerns that domestic production might not be possible, the Ministry of Petroleum assigned both Lanzhou Petrochemical Machinery Factory and Harbin Boiler Factory to attempt manufacturing it simultaneously. It can truly be said that the entire nation’s efforts were pooled to create this cold-wall reactor. II. Development of forged-welded hot-wall reactors By the end of the 1970s, through inspections of hydrogenation units abroad, we found that the vast majority of hydrogenation reactors employed a more efficient and stable hot-wall structure. Thus, on the basis of absorbing advanced foreign technologies, China began to carry out independent research and development of hot-wall hydrogenation reactors. The first forge-welded hot-wall hydrogenation reactor was successfully manufactured in 1983. The 2.25Cr-1Mo forgings were supplied by Beijing Heavy Machinery Factory, with the overall manufacturing carried out by Lanshi Factory. At that time, considering that hot-wall reactor technology was still in the initial stages of development, and to ensure operational safety, although the reactor was designed and manufactured according to hot-wall requirements, it was still used as a cold-wall reactor overall. It was not until 1989 that China’s first truly meaningful hot-wall hydrogenation reactor, developed, designed, and manufactured domestically, was put into use at Fushun Petroleum Plant No. 3. The reactor was designed by Luoyang Institute and manufactured by KOREA STEEL. It has an inner diameter of 1800 mm, is made of 2.25Cr-1Mo+TP347 in a single-layer cladding configuration, with a thickness of 150 mm and a weight of 220 tons. In 1990 and 1991, Hitachi Heavy Industries and Jogo manufactured 386 tons and 560 tons of reactors for Zhenhai Petrochemical Complex respectively. Entering the 21st century, with the rapid development of China’s refining industry, the manufacturing capacity for reactors has also increased significantly. In 2001, a thousand-ton hydrogenation reactor manufactured by JFE Heavy Industries for Qilu Petrochemical Company was put into use ； In 2006, the world’s first 2,000-ton coal liquefaction hydrogenation reactor was manufactured by HD Hyundai Engineering & Construction for Shenhua Group ； In 2012, POSCO Engineering manufactured a \"double ultra\" (ultra-large diameter and ultra-thick wall) hydrogenation reactor with an inner diameter of φ5400 and a wall thickness of 340 mm for Jinling Petrochemical ； In 2020, a super slurry-bed forge-welded hydrogenation reactor manufactured by HD Hyundai for Zhejiang Petrochemical weighed 3,037 tons. To date, our country has transformed from a follower to a leader in the field of hydrogenation reactor design and manufacturing. III. Development of plate-welded hot-wall reactors: If China National Heavy Machinery Corporation is the leader in forged-welded hydrogenation reactors, then Lanxi Group is the key player in the field of plate-welded hydrogenation reactors. Between 1981 and 1982, Lansi Factory completed the manufacture of two plate-welded hot-wall hydrogenation reactors, which were used at Yanshan Petrochemical and Jingmen Refinery respectively, putting an end to the reliance on imported products of this type. In 1986, Lanshi Factory manufactured a plate-welded hydrogenation reactor with a wall thickness of 90 mm for Changling Refinery, employing new manufacturing processes such as automatic welding of narrow-gap circumferential seams during production. In 1990, the hydrogenation reactor manufactured by Lansi for Guangzhou Petrochemical Complex adopted the cold rolling process for the first time. In 2006, Sinopec organized Wuyang Steel Plant, Luoyang Research Institute, SEI, Lanxi Group, and others to carry out research on \"hydrogenation equipment steel plates.\" A domestically produced 137-mm-thick 12Cr2Mo1R(H) steel plate was developed, successfully replacing some imported materials. In 2008, Lansi manufactured for Luoyang Petrochemical the plate-welded reactor with the largest wall thickness and diameter in China at that time; it weighed 650 tons. The main material used was imported 2.25Cr-1Mo steel plates with a thickness of 182 mm, supplied by the Dillingen steel plant in Germany. IV. Development of domestically produced thick-walled steel plate reactors To date, China’s overall manufacturing technology for plate-welded hydrogenation reactors is fairly mature, but it still relies on others for the production of sheets with large wall thicknesses. Although Wuyang Steel Plant has successfully developed 2.25Cr-1Mo steel plates for hydrogenation processes with thicknesses of 137 and 150 mm, it has not been able to produce them on a large scale. As the main user of heat-resistant steel plates for thick-wall hydrogenation processes, in 2010, the Office for the Localization of Major Equipment under the Materials and Equipment Department of Sinopec Group organized a specialized technology development team headed by Luoyang Research Institute, with members including Jiujiang Branch, Wuyang Steel Plant, Shanghai Sinopec Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and SEI. This team successfully produced 12Cr2Mo1R steel plates with a thickness of 162 mm, which were then used in the hydrogenation units at Sinopec’s Jiujiang Branch. Since the factory acceptance testing of this equipment, Sinopec’s hydrogenation units have used domestic materials for all hydrogenation high-pressure equipment with a thickness of 200 mm or less (such as reactors and thermal crackers). In 2017, LANSHI Heavy Equipment manufactured a plate-welded hydrogenation reactor for Sinopec’s Guangzhou branch; with a wall thickness of 184 mm and a weight of 837 tons, this reactor represented a new breakthrough in the design, materials, and manufacturing of ultra-thick plate-welded hydrogenation reactors.